Softbank Corp mulling investment in Europe

Japanese telecoms giant Softbank Corp is reportedly looking into increasing its investment in Europe, should the projected merger between its US unit Sprint and rival cellco T-Mobile US fail, TMT Finance reports. According to sources familiar with the matter, UK-based telco Vodafone and Deutsche Telekom (DT) of Germany are reportedly among the potential targets, with European data centre and cloud-focused businesses also on its wish-list. Further, as Vodafone is said to be valued at around USD160 billion, Softbank could fund a potential deal using the proceeds from the initial public offering (IPO) of China-based tech giant Alibaba; Softbank owns a 37% stake in the company, estimated to be worth USD44 billion. Sources pointed out that the remainder of Softbank’s funding is likely to be provided by Japanese banks.